Westministenders: Brevid

[RedToothBrush]

The government have FINALLY started to treat no deal brexit and covid as one entity in terms of fucking the economy.

On the one hand you have one camp who think they can sneak No Deal through as a consequence of Covid. On the other you have people who realise that it might be quite a good idea not to doubly screw your entire economy and to continue to be able to import medical supplies freely.

We now no that No Deal Brexit will involve passports to get into Kent and 7 mile queues of trucks because this has passed the lips of Gove. Y'know one of those who has been denying this for the past 4 years and presenting it as 'scaremongering'.

We are now firmly into the end game where businesses have to make plans based on the government plans and technology. Y'know the ones that aren't complete yet despite it only being 2 months to go.

Johnson has today done an interview about covid restrictions in the NE in which he got all the detail wrong. Its almost as if he forgot the lines he was instructed to recite and have no fundamental understanding of what rules he's putting into place to control the lives of the population.

As we lurch into October, there is speculation of full local lockdowns being brought in to try and deal with the spiralling number of cases which have to be the result, in no small part, of a dire lack of local testing facilities in the North of England. Meanwhile we've got The App finally. The one that doesn't work and the police and many health care staff are being advised not to use cos its so bobbins and will lead to them constantly isolating needlessly. Thats just something the rest of us have to contend with.

The feeling is that Cummings is up for No Deal. Johnson has been brainwashed into it, which lets face it, isn't too hard given how hard of thinking he is. However there is a growing sense that Johnson may now bottle it and declare victory in the jaws of defeat. That might be a premature hope.

We await the answer and the all important question of whether Christmas is indeed cancelled - that is for everyone who hasn't already cancelled it due to financial hardship...

I'm sick of hearing about Trump. 10 doctors trouping out to give a statement? Really? I don't need to know if he had oxygen or what his sats are. I think I will scream soon. All u hear us Trump, Covid, Brexit deal or no deal, snivelling uni students ( or rather their parents) honestly I think I will have brain melt soon I really will. Doom gloom and more doom gloom. Think I need a rest from the media!

NB
For the last 20 years, self employed people have ben told to spread bet their retirement savings
which means some will be in Pensions, some in cash, some in ISAs, some in property, some in non earning businesses

and ALL of those age 45+ people are being utterly screwed over by the UK Govt.

At least Trump had the decency to sign off uplifts in unemployment benefit to make it cover people's bills

sos
re Trumps health
it matters because of the potential conspiracy theory
and it matters because the US election determines how far out in the cold the UK finds itself
but yes, avoid the Graun and the BBC at the moment
I like Sky : pithy coverage

"many are now quite peeved that the fairly trivial Voluntary Redundancy settlements have clobbered any entitlement to UC."

Shit, I forgot redundancy payments counted as savings

There used to be a basic unemployment pay yonks ago, from NI / statutory employment insurance or something, which paid a more reasonable amount for 1 year
Has this been repaced by UC ?

@ListeningQuietly

NB For the last 20 years, self employed people have ben told to spread bet their retirement savings which means some will be in Pensions, some in cash, some in ISAs, some in property, some in non earning businesses

and ALL of those age 45+ people are being utterly screwed over by the UK Govt.

At least Trump had the decency to sign off uplifts in unemployment benefit to make it cover people's bills

... I read that the amounts in the US were basic there too and have been cut - because Republicans claimed it encouraged employees to stay home

Also, what support did the SE get and under what conditions ?

SE tend to do worse than regular employees in a recession - lack of security and backup are part of the trade-offs for higher income and independence

(or at least higher income used to be one of the SE advantages, before lowpaid workers were forced to become SE too. However, they should hopefully at least get UC)

I was SE many years ago and went back into employment during a downturn when my main customer cut right back on external contracts
and also because I was having to work when unwell, or no income

I decided - I was late 30s then - SE would only get yougher and riskier as I got older and the world economy seemed ever more unstable

BJ's father, not a loveable rogue after all:

Makes his latest offence look trivial:

I'm sick of hearing about Trump. 10 doctors trouping out to give a statement? Really? I don't need to know if he had oxygen or what his sats are.

My family members who live in DC have decided to stock up on enough essentials to last them from the end of October to February. This is in order to be able to avoid shopping or even having necessities delivered for the entire period covering the election and the 'interregnum'.

They are concerned that right wing militias may try to occupy the capital in the wake of the election, claiming that the election was stolen from them, irregular, or invalid. The fear existed before 45 came down with covid - his recent remark that he might not hand over power and floating the idea that there will be cheating on a massive scale were very alarming, and it was heightened after he referenced militias during the debate, telling them to stand by.

Ultimately, having a large number of doctors presenting news of Trump's health doesn't make that eventuality less likely, since his supporters are likely to believe he was poisoned or the victim of a murderous conspiracy if his condition deteriorates/he dies. It's possible a large number of doctors involved in his treatment looks as if medical decisions are being made by committee, not just one doctor who might be able to 'go rogue'.

There is also the danger, without frequent updates, that armed fascists will get nervous, paranoid, and trigger happy.

Plus nervousness in Wall Street is to be avoided.

My God, what a mess with Trump.

I did wonder if the extra time that Johnson has agreed with Ursula von der Leyen was to take the UK and the EU past the time of the Presidential election. It's slipped under the radar, but another month means that Johnson hasn't got his 'Great Deal' by the middle of October. He can't just ask for an outright extension because hasn't Parliament legislated against it? With his 80 majority, he should get round that by changing the law, but I imagine that would be the one thing the ERG would kick off about. Making a fuss about the extension of Covid laws? Back down after some noise. Extend with the EU - an absolute no-no.

I see that Mary Berry is to be made a Dame in the birthday honours. At least that is one that most people will approve of.

Well goodness me what a read - DM’s extracts from the book about BJ and family. Nothing really surprising though.

How unlike the home life of our own dear...oops, not entirely unlike RF shenanigans.

SOS - I am genuinely interested in this quote "snivelling uni students ( or rather their parents)"

• as to be honest it chimes with me.

I am sick of hearing about how kids are missing out on freshers week - blah, blah blah.... and complaints about online learning. I have felt rising irritation over the sense of entitlement. Yes they are paying to go to uni - but what is happening at uni's is entirely predictable. My cousin - who I am really close to, abs whose husband is a prof at Cambridge- was saying he was seeing advantages to online learning - in that students actually asked what more Q's than they did in person. She also made the point (over summer) - that uni was actually a great option given what we are facing. As there would be no travel/gap years. And no prospect of jobs.

Is that in line with what you are thinking? I am interested as I think it was your DGD that was heading off to Uni in London.

I will temper that with the fact - I would be desperately worried if my child was in halls - with 200+ students told not to leave halls , that they were a bubble and their were positive cases.

I think the thing is - things are a lot more shit for a lot of people , than it is for students

I may be biased as we are university staff, but if my DC were at the university stage, TBH I'd much rather they were at home and doing online learning. Safer for them and for staff, and actually quite a good way of delivering theoretical content (as @mrslaughan observed). I wouldn't mind in the slightest, despite paying tuition fees. As it is, my university insisted on delivering an amount of face-to-face teaching, and within the first couple of weeks I have heard of a couple of colleagues having to self-isolate because they've been exposed to COVID-positive students - so there goes those F2F modules anyway which is such a great outcome for all concerned.

First laugh out moment of the week:

'Steve Baker, The Tory MP, who is helping to organise Conservative rebels backing a bid to give parliament a vote ahead of further coronavirus restrictions, compared Johnson to the King of Rohan, a character in JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings who is under the spell of his adviser, Wormtongue. He told Times Radio on Monday:

“Many of us will have seen Lord of the Rings and there’s a scene in Lord of the Rings where Théoden, the king, is under the spell of his advisers, and he has to be woken up from that spell. And when he wakes from that spell, joy comes to pass in the kingdom, and I’m afraid, at the moment, somebody needs to wake Théoden from his slumber. And when Théoden awakes, and I mean Boris [Johnson], everything will come right.”

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/28/boris-johnson-covid-19-policy-critics-who-says-what

I can feel some sympathy for students who have stumped up for accommodation, and now find that they are only being offered on-line learning anyway.

I suspect the massive rise in case numbers to nearly 13,000 yesterday was not just a ‘technical issue’, but partly to do with the huge numbers of cases at Unis. (e.g. 770 at Northumbria, only 10% of whom are symptomatic. Incredible.)

Some of those Govt Covid gameplanners might be thinking ‘Hmmm, how can we get those low-risk young people away from their older more vulnerable family members for a couple of months, let them have COVID and become immune, and then allow them back home again safely for Xmas? Wait - Uni! Perfect!’

Well perhaps I shouldn’t attribute actual ‘planning’ to this, but they might feel it’s convenient. However. as Elements points out, it does put Uni staff at risk. (And some young people will get it bad.)

Although, at my own DC’s Uni, all large lectures are online and small group seminars are spread out in large rooms.

unicovid.uk/

My dd was really keen to get back to university. She's an adult who was getting really fed up of being confined at home with her parents. Yes it's a bit shit at the moment, but she needs her independence.

Don't forget that many students also don't have reliable internet at home, or the space they need to study.

“Due to a technical issue...the total reported over the coming days will include some additional cases from the period between 24 Sept and 1 Oct.”

Happens in the best of places;
3 Sep - "Germany ups daily COVID-19 infection number after glitch."

uk.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-germany-cases/germany-ups-daily-covid-19-infection-number-after-glitch-idUKKBN25V0FS

I've been using the Cummings Wormtongue analogy a lot with friends. Unfortunately, I don't think that the "King" BJ is receptive to having his eyes opened. Theodyn was manipulated, possibly even poisoned, made to think he was weaker and more powerless than he was . BJ on the other hand has willingly embraced Wormtongue because of the power he promised.

No possibility of being redeemed on the battlefield for BJ

Clav was this said tongue-in-cheek?

They will have to hope that BJ doesn't renege on the next deal.

Because it seems like no way to run a grownup country. The U.K. simply won’t be trusted anymore. Bad, at a time when it’s desperately seeking trade deals all over.

Smiffys - we opened a Dutch limited company in 2015 before the referendum: so that we were prepared for both scenarios (leave or remain).

That's good forward planning - nevertheless, their HQ has clearly not left the UK;

20 Aug 2020 - "Lincolnshire fancy dress firm Smiffys secures £20m NatWest boost to support growth plans. The money will help Smiffys expand further into the global market."

www.business-live.co.uk/manufacturing/lincolnshire-fancy-dress-firm-smiffys-18758352

Clav I don’t think you need to bring Germany’s error into this (to defend the U.K.?) I was merely pointing out that a lot of students are having routine tests at the moment and these numbers must be bumping up the figures.

(At my DC’s Uni there is now a testing station on campus. Could they be finding cases which would have otherwise gone unnoticed?)

compared Johnson to the King of Rohan, a character in JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings

I think such analogies are unhelpful as they subconsciously suggest t that the affairs of mankind are not their own agency, and therefore there's nothing we can do.

A little bit like the Green Berets myth that sounds like something out of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.